20 September 2006
Tips for more secure passwords
There is a lot of talk over secure passwords on the Internet. You don't have to go far to find someone saying how important it is to have a secure password for your accounts. What isn't so easy to find is information on how to create such a password.
Usually it is listed that your password should be alphanumeric and at least 6 characters long. I agree completely, the longer the better. Numbers, characters and symbols add to the strength of the password as well especially if the characters are both lower and uppercase. Preferably the combination should be random but with some meaning that you can remember. Of course this also shouldn't be information that is easy for others to guess, such as an address or birthday or even common dictionary words. For example, 3.T0.g3t.rE@dY is more secure than a standard phrase, while still being easy to remember.
Of course people should have a separate password for each account to prevent the situation where someone has access to all of a person's accounts after breaking one password. Of course in such a situation it may be hard to remember them all. While it's advisable not to write them down, if you do to remember them make sure you keep it in a place that is completely secure and of course do not tell people what your password is.
For important sites such as online banking and other financial institution and services it is a good practice to regularly change a password either monthly or bimonthly.
These practices should protect your accounts provided that your computer is free of any keylogging applications. Ideally having such passwords will leave you never having to worry about a password being stolen, but it isn't always the case, if it is wanted badly enough someone will continue trying until they succeed. That being said it will protect you considerably more than using your birthday as a password.
Usually it is listed that your password should be alphanumeric and at least 6 characters long. I agree completely, the longer the better. Numbers, characters and symbols add to the strength of the password as well especially if the characters are both lower and uppercase. Preferably the combination should be random but with some meaning that you can remember. Of course this also shouldn't be information that is easy for others to guess, such as an address or birthday or even common dictionary words. For example, 3.T0.g3t.rE@dY is more secure than a standard phrase, while still being easy to remember.
Of course people should have a separate password for each account to prevent the situation where someone has access to all of a person's accounts after breaking one password. Of course in such a situation it may be hard to remember them all. While it's advisable not to write them down, if you do to remember them make sure you keep it in a place that is completely secure and of course do not tell people what your password is.
For important sites such as online banking and other financial institution and services it is a good practice to regularly change a password either monthly or bimonthly.
These practices should protect your accounts provided that your computer is free of any keylogging applications. Ideally having such passwords will leave you never having to worry about a password being stolen, but it isn't always the case, if it is wanted badly enough someone will continue trying until they succeed. That being said it will protect you considerably more than using your birthday as a password.
Labels: internet, password, security
